Irena was the name of the cat woman in the 1942 film Cat People, played by Simone Simon. She reappears in the sequel, the misleadingly titled Curse of the Cat People, as a benevolent ghost who helps a child, the daughter of her husband by another woman.

Irena Sendleorwa was a Polish heroine who smuggled 2500 Jewish children to safety during WWII. She was arrested and tortured, but only gave false information she had come up with beforehand with her collaborators.